Iowa leads early, falls to Purdue

The Iowa Hawkeyes were competitive but in the end number four Purdue had too many weapons in a 67-56 win over the Hawkeyes in the Big Ten opener for both teams. The Hawks started quickly and led by as many as nine points in the opening half but Purdue’s relentless defense took over in the second half. Iowa coach Todd Lickliter was not pleased with the way the game was called.

“We’ve got to be the most physical team in America if we had 18 fouls and they had 17, I didn’t know we were that physical to be honest with you, we must be,” Lickliter says. He says Purdue is very aggressive and he says if the game is called tight then his team can be in business. Lickliter says there was a lot of bumping and he says it was smart on Purdue’s part with the way the game was called.

Lickliter was pleased with the effort. He says if they can maintain this kind of aggressiveness and consistency in play, they can be a good team. He says he’s disappointed to not win, but he says the league is going to be tough. Turnovers were a big key as Iowa finished with 16 and Purdue had just seven. Aaron Fuller led the Hawks with 15 points, Eric May added 11.